Civilnet
The Azerbaijani government will blacklist American chef and television host Anthony Bourdain for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh with his CNN show “Parts Unknown.”
Bourdain has ventured to far-flung corners of the world with his Emmy Award-winning series, exploring global cultures and conflicts through food. In mid-October, Bourdain traveled to Nagorno-Karabakh with CivilNet senior reporter Tatul Hakobyan, where the two enjoyed a traditional meal in the historic town of Shushi.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been in a military conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh since 1991. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast declared independence from Azerbaijan and demanded merger with the Armenian Republic, which resulted in a bloody war.
In 1994, the three parties — Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan — established a ceasefire agreement, but violations on the line of contact have increased in recent years. The most deadly escalation took place in April of 2016, with several hundred casualties on both sides.
Azerbaijan considers entering Nagorno-Karabakh without its consent a violation of its territorial integrity. As a rule, foreign citizens who enter Karabakh are included in Azerbaijan’s blacklist.
The list is updated regularly and includes prominent journalists, politicians and artists such as Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballé and British Member of Parliament Caroline Cox. As of June 2017, the list included 667 people.
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