Uğur Pektaş

Uğur Pektaş — Biography

Uğur Pektaş is the actor television viewers remember as Chief Inspector Murat Ateş in Arka Sokaklar. He came to acting after winning a reality competition, spent years as one of the best-known faces of that long-running crime series, and returned to the screen in 2025, after a long break, as Abdurrahman Gazi in Kuruluş Orhan.

Pektaş studied hotel management at a tourism and hospitality school of Kocaeli University, and his career began in 2005 when he won Survivor Türkiye: Büyük Macera. He acted in Düşler ve Gerçekler the same year and Kuşdili the next. He joined Arka Sokaklar in 2006 and, with a few breaks, stayed for a decade, appearing in 297 episodes until he left on 22 January 2016 in episode 385. The Murat character brought him a large fan following. In early 2020 he returned to Survivor as a contestant but had to withdraw because of an injury.

Later he moved to historical productions: in 2023-2024 he played Omar al-Mukhtar (Ömer Muhtar) in Mahsusa: Trablusgarb, streamed on tabii. For a period he stayed away from the screen and turned to a spiritual life. He married fellow actor Gamze Özçelik in 2008; they have a son and later separated.