One day a man said to me: “You are a voiceless, submissive and inactive nation. You have neither democracy nor freedom.” As I know the country from which he comes, I told him to be silent since he has come from a country that in fact lacks real democracy. I told him that many so-called democracies in Latin America, Africa and other developing countries, including the one he comes from, are not real ones. “In that kind of democracy, parliamentary freedom and all forms of opposition are blocked if they exceed the set limits, which are very narrow. Tanks and mortars are used to crush any uprising or revolt by the people who want to enjoy the smallest bit of freedom,” I explained.

I went on to remind him that in his country when innocent people are killed by tanks and hundreds are taken into detention and prison, no one asks about democracy that, in fact, has never existed.

Nonetheless, he countered, “Still we are better than you and we are more able to express our ideas and views.”

I replied: “You are lying since the reality in your country is completely contrary to what you allege. The difference between us and you is that we are satisfied with our security and stability. We gave up all meaningless slogans a long time ago in order to dedicate ourselves and our time to building our country.

“What is the use of shouting and carrying posters in the streets if people suffer from hunger, poverty and suppression?”

Before he could answer, I continued, “If riot is a form of democracy, then we reject it. But if democracy is to accept the opinions of others, then we enjoy democracy. We can express our opinions freely and welcome the opinions of others with open hearts. We do not resort to useless shouting, but we move ahead with great determination to our objective of building our country. We look carefully at all events around us without paying attention to those who are envious of us. We all work as one person to deter any danger to our country. What characterizes us from other people is our deep-rooted unity which they lack.”