'Canadian national Linked to ISIL Arrested in Turkey on his way home'.

'Canadian national Linked to ISIL Arrested in Turkey on his way home'.(TS)

According to the Andolu News Agency, a man identified only as “Wassim B.” was arrested on March 10 at the airport in Adana, a city in southern Turkey. The report, which cited unnamed security officials, said the man had been planning to fly to Istanbul, before catching flights to Greece and then Canada.

Under interrogation, it was reportedly determined that the man was in fact a “high-level” weapons trainer for the terror group in Syria. Officials also seized videos, images that showed him firing weapons as well as other documents, according to the report.

Austin Jean, a spokesperson with Global Affairs Canada, confirmed the arrest but could provide neither details of the case nor the identity of the individual.

“Consular services are being provided to a Canadian citizen who has been detained in Adana, Turkey, as well as to their family. Consular officials are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information,” Jean said in a written statement.

The images of the man who was arrested that were published by Turkish news organizations bear a resemblance to Wassim Boughadou, a Montreal-born man of Algerian ancestry who is under investigation by the RCMP for having joined Daesh, which is also known as the Islamic State or ISIS.

Boughadou is one of several men from Quebec suspected of having participated in the kidnapping of two American journalists in Syria in 2013, which has been blamed on a group linked to Al-Qaeda.

Global Affairs Canada acknowledged that a Canadian citizen was detained in Adana, but declined to confirm the individual’s identity.

“Consular services are being provided to a Canadian citizen who has been detained in Adana, Turkey, as well as to their family. Consular officials are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information,” spokesperson Brittany Venhola-Fletcher told Global News in an emailed statement.

Turkish authorities reportedly interrogated the suspect and seized documents as well as photos and videos showing him firing weapons in the Syrian countryside.

Photos and videos of the man published by Turkish news organizations bear resemblance to Wassim Boughadou, 25, a Montreal-born man suspected of being involved in the 2013 kidnapping of two American journalists in Syria.

In an interview with LaPresse in January 2017, Boughadou claimed that he turned religious at age 18, and left Canada in 2012 because he didn’t feel welcome in Quebecois society.

At the time, he said that he would never return to Canada.