Turku to share Euro Culture Capital title with Tallinn

Finnish culture minister Tanja Saarela named Turkku as the official candidate for the 2011 European Culture Capital title which it will share with Estonia’s capital Tallinn.

It has been a sore spot in Estonia that Tallinn was selected. In most instances, capital cities generally cede the title to lesser known towns. To many, Tallinn was seen as greedily gobbling up the glory. (Many, including City Paper, thought the title should have gone to Tartu, which is, ironically, Turkku’s friendship city.) Whether it’s a big-city conspiracy is hard to say. But readers should note that Helsinki was the European Culture Capital in 2000.