February 10, 2009 - 12:18 AMT
Will Sumgait witness Jewish massacres?
Several incidents were registered in Sumgait, Azerbaijan, on the night of Feb. 9, sources say.

Several apartments belonging to Jews were robbed. According to preliminary data, 12 injured, some of them knifed, were hospitalized.

The outbreak of violence is probably conditioned by recent events in the Gaza Strip. Azerbaijan's indignation with the Jewish community dates back to 2006, when Jews openly supported Israel's offensive in Lebanon.

At that time, Imam of Juma mosque Ilgar Ibragimoglu made harsh and threatening statements. "I promise Semen Ihilov (the eader of Jewish religious community in Azerbaijan) to demonstrate our solidarity with Palestinians and Lebanese," he said.

This morning, head of Sumgait executive branch Vagif Aliyev summoned an extraordinary meeting with national security agents, demanding to find and punish the perpetrators, azertopnews reports.

The notorious story of Sumgait started in 1988, when 32 Armenians were reported to be killed and hundreds wounded, with the connivance of the Azerbaijani leadership.