Ali Sürmeli

Ali Sürmeli — Biography

Ali Sürmeli (born 7 April 1959 in Solhan, Bingöl) is a Turkish theatre, film and television actor of Zaza origin. A 1985 graduate of the theatre department of the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory, he worked with Sokak Tiyatrosu, Dostlar Tiyatrosu and the Turkish State Theatres, appearing in plays such as "Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz" and "3 Kuruşluk Opera".

Sürmeli made his cinema debut in 1986 in a film directed by Halit Refiğ and has since appeared in more than thirty feature films, among them "Filler ve Çimen", "Şellale", "Kolpaçino", "Mucize" and "Vezir Parmağı". On television he became widely known as Zaza in the series "Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu". He suffered a brain hemorrhage on 28 September 2020, and in 2026 joined the cast of the series "Eşref Rüya" as Celo Ağa.