Filip Turek (racer)

Filip Turek (born 15 October 1985) is a Czech politician, entrepreneur, influencer and former racing driver. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the 2024 European parliament election, as the lead candidate for the Přísaha and Motorists alliance.

Early life and education

Turek was born on born 15 October 1985 in Prague. He studied applied graphics at the Secondary Private Art School of Design. After graduation, he studied commercial and European law and later international and diplomatic studies at the University College Prague.

Early career

In 2015, Turek self-published ''Paraziti v nás'' ("Parasites inside Us"), written by his mother Eleni Turková, a book about alternative healing methods. During the COVID-19 pandemic, one of his companies, Zapper-Club s.r.o., of which he was one of two executives until February 2022 and the sole partner until August 2023, marketed uncertified "anti-virus" home remedies to seniors and others. The State Agricultural and Food Inspectorate issued a warning against the company. However, Turek himself denies any role in these activities.

Involvement in politics

From 2022, Turek began commenting on politics, appearing on the program ''Po žních k Turkovi'' on the Internet television channel VOX TV, as well as the program ''Přisně tajné'' on Xaver Live. His positions included support for a minimal state, questioning of liberal values, and opposition to the euro, the European Green Deal, and the proposed ban on the production of cars with internal combustion engines.

In the 2024 European Parliament election he ran as a non-affiliated candidate for Přísaha, as the lead candidate for the Přísaha and Motorists alliance. During the election campaign, several old photos of Turek were circulated online, including one where he wore a golden helmet with the symbol used by the former Greek far-right neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, one where he appeared to give a Nazi salute from a car, and one featuring a candlestick with a swastika. In a discussion on CNN Prima News, Turek stated that he was a collector, and also had a knife used by SS soldiers, but denied that he was a Nazi sympathizer. Czech police opened an investigation into his gestures.

Turek was elected as an MEP with 152,196 preferential votes, the second-highest vote total of any candidate.

Personal life

Turek is a collector of classic cars, especially the British brands Jaguar, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce and Bentley. Since 2006, he has been the chairman of the Jaguar fan club, which he founded. He is also a shooting enthusiast; his collection of weapons includes a Desert Eagle 50AE after , with whom he became friends after his release.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turek, Filip
1985 births
Living people
Businesspeople from Prague
Czech racing drivers
Czech businesspeople
Czech people of Greek descent
Přísaha MEPs
MEPs for the Czech Republic 2024–2029
Czech sportsperson-politicians