Controversy
January 2020 Finnish newspaper Iltalehti revealed that Turtiainen had used travel expense allowance during his sick leave. Turtiainen also had the highest count of the allowance usage according to the paper. [7]
The same month Turtiainen mocked a Finnish police officer on Twitter who filed a report of an offence. District attorney dropped the charges later,calling Turtiainen's statement to be within limits of acceptable criticism towards authorities despite the use of derogatory wording. [8]
Expulsion from the Finns Party
On 3 June 2020 Turtiainen mocked the murder of George Floyd on his Twitter account with a tweet showing an image of Floyd,a police officer's knee on his neck and his face colorized pink,with the phrase "Pink Floyd". [9] His parliamentary group called the tweet "not acceptable". [9] The tweet was later deleted. [9] As a response to Turtiainen's tweet,the Finns Party expelled him from the parliamentary group. [10] The previous misconduct was taken account as well. [11] Citing zero tolerance for racism,US-based company Elitefts announced that it is ending its business relationship with Ano Turtiainen's company,Metal Sport &Gear. [10]
Turtiainen proceeded to found his own parliamentary group of one man. He appointed as the group secretary a former the Finns Party MP James Hirvisaari. Hirvisaari had been expelled from the Finns Party in 2013 after two incidents:he refused to fire his assistant who published racist post on the internet and his parliamentary visitor performed a Nazi salute which Hirvisaari photographed. [12]
COVID-19
Turtiainen has criticized actions related to COVID-19 pandemic,calling them "neo-communism" and refusing to take a COVID vaccine. He has also been spreading conspiracy theory related COVID-memes on his social media platforms. [13] [14] Within the Parliament Turtiainen has caused controversy by refusing to wear a face mask during the time it was recommended. He has been using derogatory language towards the Chairmen after receiving animadversions from them regarding the face mask issue. In one instance fellow representatives interpreted his hand signs and choice of words as a violent threat. [15] In Spring 2021 Turtiainen stated that he is "ready to kill if somebody in this country is forced to wear a mask". [16] However,in Autumn 2020 it was revealed that his own company did manufacture and resell face masks. Turtiainen responded by saying he had nothing against the use of protective equipment. [17]
Power Belongs to the People
In 2021, Turtiainen expanded his parliamentary group into a full political party, called "Power Belongs to the People". According to the party, the required 5,000 voter signatures were collected in a one day. [18]
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Turtiainen caused public controversy with statements supporting Russia. The controversy caused 6 out of 10 Regional Council representatives of Power Belongs to the People to resign from the party. [19] Turtiainen called them "opportunists". [20]
After the 2023 parliamentary election, Turtiainen and his party secretary Marko Hiltunen were invited to attend the Russian government-organised St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Both have said that Russia paid for their tickets, which cost more than €25,000. [21]
Turtiainen was expelled from the party's leadership in March 2024 due to disagreements with the rest of the leadership. After this, the party publicly distanced itself from Turtiainen's pro-Russian positions. [22]
Russia connection
Former Member of Parliament Turtiainen participated in an international conference in Moscow in April 2024 and Yalta International Economic Forum in November 2024.
