OSLO, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who received the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize on Saturday, said the Colombian people are "turning the impossible into the possible" as the country's five-decade-long civil war is coming to an end.
"Six years ago, it was hard for we Colombians to imagine an end to a war that had lasted half a century. To the great majority of us, peace seemed an impossible dream," Santos said at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo, Norway.
"Today, after six years of serious and often intense, difficult negotiations, I stand before you and the world and announce with deep humility and gratitude that the Colombian people, with assistance from our friends around the world, are turning the impossible into the possible," he said.
At the ceremony held at the Oslo City Hall, Santos received a medal, a personal diploma and prize money of 8 million Swedish crowns (870,000 U.S. dollars).
Santos initiated the negotiations that culminated in a peace accord between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country's largest rebel group.
"This new agreement was signed two weeks ago, and it was endorsed last week by our Congress, by an overwhelming majority, so that it can be incorporated into our laws. The long-awaited process of implementation has begun, with the invaluable support of the United Nations," he said.
"With this new agreement, the oldest and last armed conflict in the Western Hemisphere has ended," Santos added.
Berit Reiss-Andersen, deputy chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said at the ceremony that the Nobel Prize Award has been made to Santos alone, but "it is also intended as a tribute to the Colombian people."
"Many groups and individuals have contributed to the peace process and deserve our thanks and tribute today, including tireless negotiators, facilitators, diplomats, politicians and of course, leaders from the government and the FARC guerrillas," Reiss-Andersen said.
"Our tribute is paid, not least, to the representatives of the civil war's victims, several of whom are present here today," she said. "They carry their own painful stories, yet manage to represent other victims as well."
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Oct. 7 that Santos won the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his resolute efforts to bring Colombia's civil war to an end, just four days after a peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC was narrowly rejected in a referendum.
However, Santos and FARC leader Rodrigo Londono signed a revised peace agreement in November, in efforts to end the country's half-century conflict, which has left 220,000 people dead, and millions of people homeless.
Both houses of the Colombian Congress have ratified the revised peace agreement.
