The Nobel committee said the group of civil society organisations had made a "decisive contribution" to democracy after the 2011 revolution.

It said it helped establish a political process when the country "was on the brink of civil war".

Tunisia's uprising was the first and most successful of the Arab Spring.

While other countries - Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Syria - either reverted to authoritarian rule or descended into violence and chaos, only Tunisia has managed a successful transition to democracy.

Tunisia's National Dialogue Quartet

The surprise winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize has played a key role in mediating between the different parties in the country's post-Arab Spring government.

The Quartet is credited with creating a national dialogue between the country's Islamist and secular coalition parties amid deepening political and economic crisis in 2013.

Tunisia's revolution - also known as the Jasmine Revolution - began in late 2010 and led to the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, followed by the country's first free democratic elections last year.

Kaci Kullman Five, the chair of the Nobel peace committee, said the Quartet's role in Tunisia's democratisation was "directly comparable to the peace conferences mentioned by Alfred Nobel in his will".

Nobel Peace Prize winners through the years

Houcine Abassi, head of Tunisia's General Labour Union - one of the quartet - said the award was a "tribute to martyrs of a democratic Tunisia".

"This effort by our youth has allowed the country to turn the page on dictatorship," he said.

Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi, said the award recognised the country's decision to choose the "path of consensus".

"Tunisia has no other solution than dialogue despite ideological disagreements," he said in a video posted to his Facebook page.

 

(BBC)