According to state radio, the 25-year-old man, who has been named as being Stefan Aristidou, had been reported missing from his home in Enfield since flying out to Larnaca in April 2015.
The man has now surfaced in Turkey and is reportedly being held on suspicion of terror offences after surrendering to authorities near the border with Syria.
According to The Guardian, Aristidou told police he had travelled to Syria to settle rather than fight. Aristidou, whose wife is said to be British and who was with him, had been living with his mother and sister before disappearing.
His parents are divorced.
An American man was also detained along with Aristidou.
If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison and could face further prosecution under terror legislation when he returns to the UK.
Aristidou, who is of Greek Cypriot heritage, grew up in Gordon Hill in Enfield, on a tree-lined street, close to the Chase Farm hospital, in middle-class surroundings.
According to the Guardian, he lived with his mother, Maria, a complementary therapist, who has a degree from Middlesex University and is working towards a PhD, and sister Stasia, who works as a logistics coordinator for a major oil firm. The family have lived in the semi-detached house for more than 20 years.
His father, Aristos, who works for a telecoms utility firm and studied at the Open University, moved out of the family home after he and his wife separated but still lives in London.
Neighbours told the Guardian that shortly before going missing Stefan changed his style of clothing, adopting Islamic dress and started attending a mosque.
One person who asked not to be named said Maria and Stasia were quiet neighbours and never spoke about Stefan after he went missing.
But she added: “I had a feeling he had gone somewhere like that. He suddenly started wearing Islamic clothing shortly before he went missing. We would see him leave on his own. Before then he dressed in western clothes, jeans, you know.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are in contact with the Turkish authorities following the detention of a British man on the Turkey/Syria border.”
According to government figures released in November, approximately 800 individuals “of national security concern” had travelled to take part in the Syria conflict since it began.
The family declined to comment when contacted by the Guardian. Stasia, through her public Instagram account, frequently published photos of her brother with messages describing her feelings about his disappearance.
“Missing him,” she wrote in one post. “Can’t even watch the TV now without something reminding me. I want him back.”
“Hope he’s out there still smiling,” she wrote in another. “Every now and then I found something that belonged to him and it instantly makes me cry.”
Shortly after he went missing, the family worked with the Lucie Blackman Trust, a charity set up to help relatives of missing or murdered people overseas, to launch an appeal for Stefan’s whereabouts.
The organisation, founded by the family of Lucie Blackman, who was murdered in Japan in 2000, described him as around 5ft 4in tall and of slim build, and said he had not been heard from since 12 April 2015.
After it learned of Aristidou’s arrest, the appeal was taken down.
A spokesman for the charity said: “The Lucie Blackman Trust supports families with a loved one missing overseas. This appeal was launched some time ago in good faith but given the nature of the reports the appeal has been closed.”
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