The University of Turku has refuted claims that it has any connection with an event to commemorate the closure of a World War 2 concentration camp, as the university’s Pori unit was named as one of the organisers of the day, organised by religious and political groups.
A release from the Finnish Lutheran Mission (FLM) was distributed on Thursday, saying that the Satakunta mission and the University of Turku Cultural Production and Landscape Studies unit were organising a joint event in late January. The event is based on the 70th anniversary of the closure of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
Speakers at the event include the vice president of the Christian Democratic Party, Sauli Ahvenjärvi, missionary Juhani Koivisto, the chair of the Turku Jewish congregation, Tomer Huhtamäki and the principal of the Otsola community college, Alexander Bruk.
University forbids name use
No staff members of the University of Turku are speakers at the event, but the FLM claims the university is still one of the organisers. On being asked about the connection, the university said it was not aware of the nature of the event.
”We do not officially take part in any religiously or politically biased event as a unit, no matter how positive the topic,” unit chief Petri Saarikoski says.
The University of Turku has informed the FLM that the university’s name may not be used to market the event.