Öztürk was born in Ankara the son of high ranking communist official Kazım Ataç. Öztürk joined the Turkish Republican Workers' Party in 1975, before being given a high ranking position in the People's Defence Force after attending military academy in the USSR. Öztürk was appointed Deputy Chairmen of the State Security Committee (commonly called the Güvenliki), the domestic intelligence agency of Turkey at the age of 30.