She was born on June 21, 1954 as the daughter of Ahmet and Rabia Sürer. Her grandfather is from Priştina, her grandmother is Albanian, and her father is of Dagestan origin. She has a brother named Süleyman (1959-2024). She completed her education at Bursa Anatolian Girls High School. She went to Switzerland to stay with her relatives and stayed there for 4 years. The artist, who stepped into the cinema life with Erden Kıral's film Bereketli Topraklar Ötesi, won the "Best Actress" award twice at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival. She has acted in more than forty films and television series to date. Her first international work was the film Ayna in 1984. This film was followed by Umutuda Yolculuk (1990), Dunkle Schatten der Angst (1993) and Yara (1998), which won the Oscar Award for "Best Foreign Film" in 1991.

Sürer portrayed the character of "Neriman Kozcuoğlu" in the TV series Asi, which was broadcast on Kanal D between 2007 and 2009.
She married Bülent Kayabaş for the first time in 1981.[4] She later married Sarp Kuray, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for being the leader of the armed leftist organization called the 16 June Movement.[9] Sürer, who is closely interested in women's rights, is also known for her political stance. The artist, who participated in the 1 May celebrations in Istanbul in 2007, was detained by the police and released one day later.