Oldest Hungarian lawmaker dies

Béla Turi-Kovács, a lawmaker of ruling Fidesz, has died, at the age of 87, the party’s group leader said on Saturday.

Turi-Kovács, the oldest member of parliament since 2014, “has served Hungary and the nation in the national assembly since 1998,” said Máté Kocsis. In 1956, Turi-Kovács participated in the revolution and worked later as a lawyer. “The smallholder and civic movements were always close to his heart and he was a leading figure of those political communities throughout his life,” Kocsis added. He said that Turi-Kovács’s knowledge and life experience will be greatly missed in the parliamentary group of Fidesz.

Turi-Kovács studied law at the Budapest ELTE University from where he was expelled in 1956 because of his participation in the anti-Soviet revolt. In the same year, following in his family’s footsteps, he joined the Independent Smallholders’ Party (FKgP) and entered Hungary’s post-transition parliament on FKgP’s ticket in 1998.

Between 2000 and 2002, he served as environment minister. He later joined Fidesz and has been the party’s lawmaker since 2002.

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