– ‘National fraternity’ –
“The Quartet exercised its role as a mediator and driving force to advance peaceful democratic development in Tunisia with great moral authority,” the Nobel panel said.
“More than anything, the prize is intended as an encouragement to the Tunisian people, who despite major challenges have laid the groundwork for a national fraternity which the Committee hopes will serve as an example to be followed by other countries.”
Since the Tunisia uprising that began in December 2010, the Arab world has been rocked by massive upheaval has toppled leaders in Egypt, Libya and Yemen and plunged Syria into a brutal civil war.
Tunisia has won praise for its transition which has involved the adoption of a constitution in January 2014 and the holding of its first democratic elections at the end of the year.
But this year it was hit by a massacre at a Tunis museum in March that killed 22 people, mostly tourists, and a mass killing at a beach resort last month that left 38 foreigners dead. Both were claimed by the Islamic State group.
It is the second time a Nobel peace honour has been bestowed in connection with the Arab Spring after Tawakkol Karman, an activist fighting Yemen’s regime, shared the 2011 prize with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Liberian “peace warrior” Leymah Gbowee for their struggle for women’s rights and empowerment.
The prize is a gold medal, a diploma and a cheque for eight million Swedish kronor (around 860,000 euros/$950,000) to be shared by the laureates.
They will receive their prizes at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of prize creator Alfred Nobel, a Swedish philanthropist and scientist.
Last year, Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai, who was 17 at the time, became the youngest-ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in an award shared with India’s Kailash Satyarthi for their struggle against the suppression of children and their right to education.
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