Aliye Uzunatağan

Aliye Uzunatağan — Biography

Born Saliha Aliye Uzunatağan on 24 December 1951 in Çanakkale, she trained at the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory and also studied acting abroad. She was among the founders of the Müjdat Gezen Art Center and has built a career spanning theater, film, television, voice acting and directing.

Uzunatağan entered the film industry with the 1969 movie Sen Bir Meleksin and appeared in numerous films during the Yeşilçam era, playing Hatice in Talihli Amele in 1980. She reached a wide television audience with her role as Saliha Sökmen in the series Kara Melek, which began in 1996, and went on to appear in many productions including Evdeki Yabancı, Kuzey Rüzgârı, Geniş Zamanlar, Ya Sonra, Ruhumun Aynası and Erkenci Kuş, amassing more than 140 credits over a career spanning more than half a century.

She played the character Sönmez in the widely watched series Kızılcık Şerbeti, which began in 2022, and left the show in June 2026 after four seasons. The mother of actress Ayşecan Tatari, she has described her young Kızılcık Şerbeti co-star Sıla Türkoğlu as being like a real granddaughter to her.