Having spent most of his youth as a drug addict in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Turkey\u2019s capital, Can did not think he had much to lose when he was smuggled into Syria with 10 of his childhood friends to join the world\u2019s most extreme jihadist group.<\/p>\n
After 15 days at a training camp in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto headquarters of the group, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the 27-year-old Can was assigned to a fighting unit. He said he shot two men and participated in a public execution. It was only after he buried a man alive that he was told he had become a full ISIS fighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you fight over there, it\u2019s like being in a trance,\u201d\u009d said Can, who asked to be referred to only by his middle name for fear of reprisal. \u201cEveryone shouts, \u201d\u02dcGod is the greatest,\u2019 which gives you divine strength to kill the enemy without being fazed by blood or splattered guts,\u201d\u009d he said.<\/p>\n