{"id":152731,"date":"2025-08-27T14:26:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T11:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/152731\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"exiled-belarusian-activist-reported-missing-in-turkey","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/152731\/","title":{"rendered":"Exiled Belarusian activist reported missing in Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kotov_belinstitute_com.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kotov_belinstitute_com.jpg 750w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kotov_belinstitute_com-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kotov_belinstitute_com-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kotov_belinstitute_com-178x118.jpg 178w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(belinstitute.com)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>August 27, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Anatol Kota\u016d of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund (BSSF), who stopped replying to calls and messages on August 21 after leaving Warsaw for Istanbul, has been reported missing in Turkey, the BSSF says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group called on the international sports community and human rights organizations to pay attention to the disappearance of the activist, described as a \u201clong-standing advocate for the rights of Belarusian athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kota\u016d is also known as a member of the ethics committee at the World DanceSport Federation and a contributor to the US-based Athletes for Freedom Foundation\u2019s working group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn recent years, Kota\u016d has been at the forefront of defending the rights of Belarusian athletes, openly opposing the [Alaksandar] \u0141uka\u0161enka regime and its repressive practices,\u201d the BSSF noted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His disappearance is \u201ca matter of grave concern not only for Belarusian society, but for the global sports and human rights community,\u201d the group stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A former Belarusian diplomat and \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s administration official, Kota\u016d left government service in 2020 and supported the postelection protests in Belarus. Later, he joined the BSSF and emigrated to Poland, fearing politically-motivated persecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One year ago, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison in Belarus without being present at the trial on extremism-related charges that Minsk often uses to punish exiled opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this year, another high-profile Belarusian opposition politician, An\u017ealika Mielnikava, disappeared after leaving the European Union. Her whereabouts remain unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kotov_belinstitute_com-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kotov_belinstitute_com-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kotov_belinstitute_com-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kotov_belinstitute_com-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kotov_belinstitute_com.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Another high-profile exiled opposition activist goes missing<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">August 25, Pozirk. Anatol Kota\u016d of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund (BSSF) stopped replying to calls and messages four days ago after leaving Warsaw for Istanbul, BSSF head Alaksandar Apejkin has said on Facebook. Kota\u016d&#039;s family members filed a report &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/152454\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>August 27, Pozirk. Anatol Kota\u016d of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund (BSSF), who stopped replying to calls and messages on August 21 after leaving Warsaw for Istanbul, has been reported missing in Turkey, the BSSF says. The group called on the international sports community and human rights organizations to pay attention to the disappearance of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":152441,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-152731","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Exiled Belarusian activist reported missing in Turkey | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"August 27, Pozirk. Anatol Kota\u016d of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund (BSSF), who stopped replying to calls and messages on August 21 after leaving\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/152731\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exiled Belarusian activist reported missing in Turkey | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"August 27, Pozirk. Anatol Kota\u016d of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund (BSSF), who stopped replying to calls and messages on August 21 after leaving\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/152731\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kotov_belinstitute_com.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/152731\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/152731\/\"},\"headline\":\"Exiled Belarusian activist reported missing in Turkey\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-27T11:26:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/152731\/\"},\"wordCount\":241,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/152731\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kotov_belinstitute_com.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/152731\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/152731\/\",\"name\":\"Exiled Belarusian activist reported missing in Turkey | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/152731\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/152731\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kotov_belinstitute_com.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-27T11:26:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"August 27, Pozirk. 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