{"id":2677,"date":"2017-10-26T12:19:30","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T12:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=2677"},"modified":"2017-10-30T12:34:03","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T12:34:03","slug":"anthony-bourdain-has-been-blacklisted-by-azerbaijan-after-visiting-disputed-territory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=2677","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Bourdain Has Been Blacklisted by Azerbaijan After Visiting Disputed Territory"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MELISSA MINTON and SEBASTIAN MODAK
\nCond\u00e9 Nast Traveler<\/em><\/p>\n

He was reportedly filming an episode of his show Parts Unknown<\/em>.<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Anthony Bourdain is known for his hold-nothing-back approach<\/a> to life and for visiting locations that are dangerous<\/a> and often largely untrodden by Americans (hence the name of his CNN show, Parts Unknown<\/em>). But now, the border-hopping chef, while out filming, may have stirred up a little controversy: He’s reportedly been banned from visiting the nation of Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n

After traveling to Armenia last week, reportedly to film an episode of Parts Unknown<\/em>, Bourdain visited Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that has long been under territorial dispute between Azerbaijan and an ethnically Armenian majority backed by the Armenian government. The Azerbaijani government explicitly forbids those seeking a visa to the country from visiting the region without permission from the foreign ministry. On the website for the Azerbaijani embassy<\/a> in Washington, D.C., a section on visa regulations reads, “Without the explicit consent of and a visa issued by the authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan, a person, who made\/makes a trip to the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, will not be granted a visa to the Republic of Azerbaijan and will be deported in case of his\/her future entrance.”<\/p>\n

The U.S. State Department, while not having an official travel advisory<\/a> for the region, does note in its website entry<\/a> on visiting Azerbaijan that, “the U.S. Government is unable to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Nagorno-Karabakh,” and that “U.S. citizens of Armenian descent may encounter anti-Armenian sentiments in Azerbaijan.”<\/p>\n

In short, while CNN did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Bourdain and team likely knew what they were getting into.<\/p>\n

Bourdain was spotted<\/a> last week meeting several Armenian celebrities, including enjoying an outdoors lunch in the disputed region with an Armenian journalist. Bourdain also posted a photo<\/a> on Instagram of a military helicopter, captioned “Cameraman Jerry Risius ponders our chosen means of transport (Russian MI-8 MTV-1).” On Twitter, he thanked<\/a> the leader of the rock group System of a Down, Serj Tankian, who is Armenian-American, for arranging the visit and “making it awesome.”<\/p>\n