Minsk

Belarus has been accused of "hijacking" a civilian airliner by forcing a Ryanair passenger flight to land in the country using a fake bomb threat so that authorities could arrest a prominent critic of its authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Belarus forced a passenger plane carrying a wanted opposition activist to divert and land in its capital, provoking a furious outcry from world leaders who described it as an "act of state terrorism" ahead of an EU summit on May 24 expected to toughen sanctions on Minsk.

Fury over the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in Belarus has upended the agenda of a European Union summit dinner on Monday, where leaders were due to discuss relations with Russia and Britain but will now also consider punitive steps against Minsk.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called for a diplomatic and peaceful solution to an ongoing escalation between Ukraine and Russia with a strong emphasis on the need to turn the Black Sea region into a basin of peace and cooperation as he hosted Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky in Istanbul over the weekend.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he had secured a pledge from Russia to provide comprehensive assistance if needed to ensure the security of his country in a phone call with President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 15.   

Sunday's presidential election giving Lukashenko a sixth term in office was, like all but one since 1994, deemed by the EU to have been neither free nor fair. Despite a strong challenge from former teacher Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the autocratic president implausibly won 80% of the vote.

Protesters formed human chains and marched through the streets of Belarus carrying flowers on Aug. 12 in anger at a crackdown by strongman President Alexander Lukashenko that has prompted the European Union to consider new sanctions against Minsk.    

It is the second day in a row that people have demonstrated, angry at the results of Sunday's presidential vote. Security services claim to have foiled an attempt to assassinate the president's main election rival.

About 500 people, mostly young people, gathered in Minsk, according to a TAS S correspondent, without permission.
Belarus held presidential elections on August 9, and according to preliminary results, President Alexander Lukashenko received 80.08 percent of support.
Following the announcement of the results, protests broke out in Minsk and several other cities.

Turkey has said it will continue to stand with Azerbaijan in its ongoing dispute with Armenia, calling the latter to cease disruptive and destabilizing policies in the south Caucasus.