Gamze Özçelik

Gamze Özçelik — Biography

Gamze Özçelik is an actress best remembered for playing Zeynep Akyüz Ateş in the police series Arka Sokaklar for around twelve years. She came to acting from modelling and presenting, and since 2017 she has also run the charity Umuda Koşanlar. In 2026 she ended a long break from the screen and went back to work on a set.

The public first met her through competitions: fourth place at Elite Model Look in 1999 and runner-up at Miss Turkey in 2000, after which she walked the runway only for a charity show. In 2003-2004 she presented Popstar, then hosted contests such as Türkstar and Buzda Dans. As an actress she appeared in the series Eyvah Kızım Büyüdü, Tatlı Hayat, Serseri and Savcının Karısı, and in the film Hırsız Var!. Arka Sokaklar, which began in 2006, became the defining stretch of her career; she married her co-star Uğur Pektaş in 2008 and the couple divorced in 2011. Later she played Çiçek Hatun in Fatih and Elizabeth in Mehmetçik Kut'ül Amare.

She attended Maltepe Anadolu Lisesi and Istanbul Bilgi University, and comes from a family with roots in Thessaloniki. She married Reshad Strik in 2024. In March 2026 Üsküdar University gave her its High Human Values Award, and her charity work has included campaigns for children in Gaza.