Azerbaijani authorities are blacklisting Anthony Bourdain, an American chef and CNN host for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh.
Bourdain visited the region last week to shoot an episode for CNN’s travel and food show ‘Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown’, according to Armenian news outlet Massis Post.
Under Azerbaijani law, it’s illegal to cross into Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia and it’s impossible to do so from Azerbaijan, which considers Nagorno-Karabakh as its legal part.
On 20 October, Bourdain thanked Serj Tankian, an Armenian-American musician, for ‘finally getting’ him to Armenia and ‘making it awesome’.
On 22 October, RIA Novostiquoted spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev as saying that Bourdain is considered a persona non grata.
Hajiyev responded to Bourdain via Twitter, claiming CNN was about to ‘present ethnically cleansed land of Azerbaijan by Armenia as travel show’, calling it ‘shameful and immoral’.
‘It must be stopped’, Hajiyev added.
Populated mainly by ethnic Armenians, Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed territory internationally recognised as a part of Azerbaijan, which has not exercised power over most of the region since 1991. The conflict, which dates back to the break-up of the Soviet Union, cost the lives of some 30,000 people and displaced 1 million.
In September, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry blacklisted three US lawmakers for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh.
In perhaps the most notorious case, Azerbaijani authorities sentenced blogger Aleksandr Lapshin to three years in prison on 20 July for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh. Lapshin, a citizen of Israel, Russia, and Ukraine, was arrested in the Belarusian capital of Minsk in December after being put on an Interpol wanted list on Azerbaijan’s request. In September, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order pardoning him.
The practice of blacklisting people for visiting disputed territories bypassing their internationally recognised borders is a common practice in the Caucasus. In 2008, Georgia adopted the Law on Occupied Territories, which prohibits entry to Abkhazia and South Ossetia through Russia. According to Georgia’s Interior Ministry, Georgia launched 0 criminal cases using the law in 2008, 88 in 2009, 83 in 2010, 55 in 2011, 26 in 2012, 45 in 2013, 36 in 2014, and 17 in 2015.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on 11 September pardoning blogger Aleksandr Lapshin, who was imprisoned for for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh.
The decision was posted on the official presidential administration website.
Russian news agency Interfax quoted presidential aide Ali Hasanov as saying that Lapshin tried to commit suicide the previous day; this has yet to be confirmed.
Azerbaijani news outlet APA quoted Hasanov as saying that Lapshin will be sent to Israel in
Baku City Court has sentenced blogger Aleksandr Lapshin to three years in prison for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh.
He was convicted on charges of violating Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, however, the court dropped charges of openly anti-state speech.
According to the Caucasian Knot, Lapshin apologised to the court for his visit, but still pleaded not guilty, saying that his visit to the region did not have any political motives, adding that he considers Nagorno-Karabakh to be Azerbaijan
The trial of blogger Aleksandr Lapshin for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh has kicked off in Baku. Lapshin, a citizen of Russia, Ukraine, and Israel, was detained in Belarus on Azerbaijan’s request charged with ‘illegally crossing the border of Azerbaijan’ and ‘supporting separatism in public speeches’; he faces 8 years in prison if convicted.
According to the Caucasian Knot, the Prosecutor’s Office called two witness against Lapshin at a court hearing on 3 July. Eyyub Abdulazimov and Fakhraddin
Amnesty International has called on the authorities of Azerbaijan to immediately release popular blogger Aleksandr Lapshin. In a statement released by the rights group on 10 February, they claim that he faces ‘torture’ and an ‘unfair trial’, and has been refused permission to contact his wife.
Lapshin, a citizen of Israel, Russia, and Ukraine, was arrested in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on 13 December. He was wanted by Interpol upon Azerbaijan’s request accused of entering Nagorno-Kar
Azerbaijani authorities are blacklisting Anthony Bourdain, an American chef and CNN host for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh. 
