An alleged spy detained in Turkey for helping three British girls cross into Syria and join the ranks of the so-called ’Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) takfiri group is a Syrian national.

An alleged spy detained in Turkey for helping three British girls cross into Syria and join the ranks of the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group is a Syrian national, the Turkish foreign minister said on Friday.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced on Thursday that a spy who had assisted the three London school girls, now believed to be on territory controlled by ISIL, had been caught.

"The person who helped the three British girls into Syria is a Syrian national working for another country within the coalition. The situation is so complicated," Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara.

He did not say which country the spy was working for, although on Thursday he had said it was not the European Union or the United States. The coalition also includes countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, Australia and Canada.

The three girls, two aged 15 and one 16, flew to Istanbul from London on Feb. 17 and then onwards to Syria. Their families have appealed to them to return.