His father, as a young man, sang in a choir, participated in drama clubs and wrote poems.

[2] Turtiainen attended five years at Ressu Upper Secondary School and graduated as a dental technician.

Turtiainen was convicted on four counts of desertion and attempted high treason, sent to a labour penitentiary for six months and stripped of his rank.

[2] Turtiainen was a member of Kiila, an association for writers and artists, and the Communist Party of Finland.

[2] He expressed his disappointment with the events of the 1968 Prague Spring with the publication of his work Puheita Porthaninrinteellä (Speeches from Porthaninrinne).