Azerbaijan to Blacklist Anthony Bourdain for Artsakh Visit

BAKU — Azerbaijan will officially blacklist American chef and TV show host Anthony Bourdain for his visit to Artsakh for filming CNN’s Parts Unknown, Azerbaijani foreign ministry spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev said. He will join a plethora of other celebrities, diplomats and ordinary citizens who have visited Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

Bourdain visited Armenia and Artsakh to film for his show Parts Unknown on CNN, he had interviews in Shushi, where he tasted the local food.

Bourdain posted a picture to his social media account of his cameraman, Jerry Risius, boarding a Russian helicopter, likely to make the journey from Armenia to Artsakh, where he has been featured in pictures across social media.

Bourdain is traveling with a film crew to produce a segment on the region for his CNN television show, “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.”

Described by The New Yorker as a “swaggering chef,” Bourdain has built an empire around food, which started with his New York Times best-selling book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000). Today, he is well-known as a TV personality and has starred in shows on Food Network and his Travel Channel show, “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” which has Bourdain traveling to unexpected locations and indulging in those regions’ local culinary traditions.