British student who joined Daesh wants to go home — Turkish MP

ANKARA — A 19-year-old British woman, one of a group of medical students that includes seven Britons, an American and a Canadian thought to have travelled to join Daesh terror group, has told her family she wants to go home, a Turkish lawmaker has said.

"A female student, 19-year-old Lena, sent a message to her family saying she wanted to go back. We will try tomorrow to bring her and those who are with her back, if we can persuade them," opposition CHP lawmaker Mehmet Ali Ediboglu said in an interview with Reuters television late on Wednesday.

Thousands of foreigners from different countries have joined the ranks of radical groups such as Daesh in Syria and Iraq, many of them crossing through Turkey.

Turkey has stepped up border security, regularly releasing details of would-be fighters it has detained, after criticism it had not done enough to stem the flow of foreign fighters through the region.