A former rising star of German football who played for the under-17 national squad has been killed after he abandoned his career to fight for al-Qaeda in the Syrian civil war against the Assad regime.
Burak Karan played alongside famous names such as Sami Khedira, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Dennis Aogo.
But five years ago he quit the game he loved and his country to become a radicalised Jihadist.
On October 11, aged just 26, he was blown to smithereens by a bomb dropped by an Assad air force jet on the village of Azaz, near the Turkish border.
An image of him clutching a Kalashnikov assault rifle appeared in tribute to him at the weekend on social networking sites.
The Turkish-German player-turned-rebel 'fought like a lion', according to his commanders, who said: 'It was a pleasure to fight alongside him.'
Karan made his debut in the under-17 team in 2003 and trained with giants of the Bundesliga including Leverkusen, Herthas BSC Berlin, Hamburger SV and Hanover.
He was described as a 'talent with great perspective' and was a close personal pal of Boateng.
Thomas Hengen, Karan’s last coach at Alemannia Aachen said: 'He could have lived safely doing the job of a soccer player.'
Karan made five appearances for the German under-16 team and played twice for the under-17 team.
But on July 1, 2008, he ended his career aged just 20.
His brother Mustafa said: 'Burak said money and career were not important things to him. Instead he searched the internet constantly for videos of war zones. He was desperate, full of compassion for the victims.'
This image of Karan clutching a Kalashnikov assault rifle appeared as tribute on social networking sites. His commanders said he 'fought like a lion'.
Karan is pictured playing for the German under-16 side against England at Sunderland's Stadium Of Light in 2002. He made five international appearances at that level and two for the under-17 team
In his hunt for a cause to fight for he came on the radar of national intelligence agents for his contacts with a known Islamist called Emrah Erdogan. Erdogan is currently facing trial in Germany for his al-Qaeda links.
Burak was radicalised in an al-Qaeda training camp in the Waziristan region of Pakistan.
'He spoke only of Jihad after that,' said his sister Zuhal.
Germany’s attorney general launched a criminal probe against him for supporting a foreign terrorist organisation but he was never charged.
With the outbreak of the civil war in Syria 2011 Karan found his destiny.
After collecting relief donations and sending food and drugs he travelled with his 23-year-old wife and two children to the Syrian border in Turkey.
Karan's brother Mustafa said he watched hours of footage of war zones and was 'full of compassion for the victims.' Pictured: Children walk past damage caused by shelling by Assad's forces in Damascus
A Free Syrian Army fighter aims his weapon Salaheddine neighbourhood. Karan is said to have fought for the rebels alongside al-Qaeda
His family believed he armed himself to protect aid convoys and his brother Mustafa has travelled there to find out 'the truth' about his brother - whether he was an al-Qaeda fanatic, or a man who died trying to make a difference as a humanitarian worker.
The number of Germans travelling to Syria to fight in the civil war has increased sharply, Germany's domestic intelligence said this month.
Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the Bundesamt fuer Verfassungsschutz since 2012 (BfV), said they knew of 220 German citizens fighting in Syria, but the actual number could be much higher, and had risen sharply this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment