September 3, 1971: Qatar gains full independence from the United Kingdom. Arab states among the first to recognise Qatar. The country is an early member of Opec and a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
June 27, 1995: Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa overthrows his father to become emir of Qatar.
November 1, 1996: Al Jazeera satellite TV launches as an independent channel funded by the emir.
March 2001: Qatar settles long-running border disputes with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
September 2007: Qatar and the UAE became the two biggest shareholders of the London Stock Exchange, the world’s third largest stock exchange.
December 2008: In December, Saudi Arabia and Qatar agree on a final delineation of borders and pledge to boost cooperation after diplomatic relations restored in March.
January 2011: The so-called Arab Spring sweeps through a number of Arab countries and Qatar Emir Shaikh Hamad states that Qatar would support the uprisings.
June 24, 2013: Qatar’s Emir Shaikh Hamad steps down as he hands over power to son Crown Prince Tamim
March 4, 2014: The UAE, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia withdraw their ambassadors from Qatar to protest Qatar’s non-compliance with a November 2013 agreement not to “interfere” in countries’ internal affairs. This is due to Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Jazeera coverage.
November 16, 2014: The UAE, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia agree to return their ambassadors to Qatar, signalling an end to an eight-month rift over Doha’s support for Islamist groups.
March 25, 2015: Qatar and four other GCC states take part in Saudi-led Arab Coalition to restore Yemen’s legitimate government, overthrown by Iran-backed Al Houthi rebels.
2017
May 24: Qatar’s Emir allegedly defended Hamas and Hezbollah and slammed a hardened approached with Iran. Qatar later denies the comments saying its news agency was hacked. Gulf media continues to run the statements.
May 25: Emirati newspaper Al Bayan runs the headline “Qatar divides the Arabs” on its front page, and Saudi-owned daily Al Hayat speaks of “large-scale resentment” over Qatar. Qatari Foreign Minister Shaikh Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani says Doha is the victim of a “hostile media campaign”, particularly in the United States.
May 26, 2017: Kuwait’s foreign minister meets Qatar’s ruler for talks that aims at trying to ease renewed tensions between Qatar and other Gulf Arab states over its policy towards Iran and regional Islamist groups.
May 28: UAE State Minister for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash says Gulf countries are going through a new “deep crisis”, urging Qatar without naming it to “change its attitude and re-establish confidence and transparency”.
June 3: Foreign minister of Bahrain Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa’s twitter account is hacked in a Qatar cyber-attack.
June 5: The UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, giving the country’s diplomats 48 hours to leave the country.
-Aya Sadek is an intern with Gulf News
