22nd anniversary of Hamad bin Khalifa coup on his father

CAIRO – 27 June 2017: June 27 marks the 22nd anniversary of the bloodless coup plotted by Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani against his father Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani in 1995.

"I am not happy with what has happened, but it had to be done and I had to do it,” Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani said in a brief televised address on Qatari channels after ousting his father.

While Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani was staying in Geneva, Switzerland, in June 1995, his son Hamad bin Khalifa seized power. Khalifa lived in France until he returned to Qatar in 2004. He died on October 23, 2016, a week after entering the hospital. He was the grandfather of the current Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

On February 22, 1972, Sheikh Khalifa became the Emir of Qatar, seizing power from his cousin, Emir Ahmad bin Ali Al-Thani. While many Western news outlets referred to it as an overthrow, the Qatari population merely considered it to be a succession of power.

Al Jazeera channel was founded by the former Emir Hamad bin Khalifa in 1996, one year after his coup against his father Sheikh Khalifa Al-Thani, to divert attention from the coup and attack all Arab regimes and interfere in their affairs.

Qatar witnessed three coups in 40 years and, according to observers, “the fourth might be approaching,” amid Arab demands to change the Qatari administration. Many Arab and regional countries have cut or severed diplomatic ties with Qatar on charges of supporting terrorist groups and strongly allying with Iran and Israel.

Egypt and many Arab and Islamic nations severed ties with Qatar over allegations that the oil-rich state supports and funds terrorism. These countries closed off their airspace for Qatari airplanes, and closed all ports to Qatari vessels.

A potential scenario, which has been circulated among the political circles, is the dismissal of Qatar from the GCC. If this takes place, the term Qexit will be widely used as shorthand. This term refers to a Qatari exit of the Gulf cooperation Council or the Arab League.