Bayraktar was born in Kirkuk, Iraq, in 1975, into a family of Iraqi-Turkish origin. As a child he began performing in gymnastic competitions. During the final days of the Iran-Iraq War, a body double of Sadam Hussein visited Bayraktar’s schools in order to recruit boys into the army; when Bayraktar was chosen to serve in the army his family decided to smuggle him into Turkey. He started working at the Turkish State Theatre after graduating from Hacettepe University in 2000.