Why were we all so enraged when Turkish Deputy Mayor Veysel İpekçi, who holds office in Istanbul’s Güngören Municipality, punished employee E.T. for “failing to stand up and greet him”?

What was it about him being forced to sit on a chair in the corridor and rise whenever he passes that led to such indignation?

Why did we all react like this? Why did we feel pain, shame?

Why did it lead to mass outrage rather than remain an isolated incident; why was the greatest reaction from conservative and Justice and Development Party (AK Party) circles?

This behavior, which we consider an attack on all that is sacred to us, our values, our self-respect, cannot be covered up with any political identity, conservative identity or another camouflage.

This is desperation, a weakness of character; it is parvenu, lameness, the spoiledness of being in an undeserved position.

Arrogance is an attribute of the desperate. The weak, those who lack self-confidence, those who are deprived of knowledge and awareness, those who do not produce are arrogant and ruthless.

It should be our duty to ask this disrespectful man, “Who do you think you are?” and keep such people away from the public domain.

The magnitude of the reaction is, in fact, related to the size of the problem, to how frequently it occurs and how widespread it is. We have seen bureaucrats, CEOs, and appointed individuals who thought they were “gods.”

We see organizations headed by people who belittle Turkey, undermine their own people and the resistance demonstrated on the July 15 coup attempt; people who will never pay any price.

They look at people from their high horses with hubris, yet what they all have in common is that they have not produced anything - and never will. A flashy resume, showy attire, connections, having discovered the voids in bureaucracy are their sole qualities.

The president of this country emphasizes humility, modesty, winning hearts in almost all his speeches, pays a grave price, escapes assassinations, and is greatly revered as he has won the people’s hearts, while a deputy mayor is overcome by such arrogance. How is this possible?

Who do you think you are? What do you think you are? What do you represent? What kind of identity or culture is your origin? There is no such culture in this country. Neither is there such an identity.

Nobody is going to remember or call him the day he is dismissed; he will perhaps be left all alone. Is this not a fact of life after all? “Here today, gone tomorrow.” Right?

There are such vast numbers of people in politics, media, the business world, bureaucracy, who think that they own the state, the country and the people.

We look at Turkey’s struggle and those who put their life at stake for this cause, and then we have these people. This is where the shame begins. We need “real men,” not those who with flashy CVs.

We all know that humility is cultivated by nobility. It feeds on knowledge and maturity. If humility does not increase with increased wealth, position and power, then there is a dangerous situation.

Humility and modesty cannot be concealed under any political or religious identity. It has to be in one’s heart, mind, character, and backbone.

You cannot veil arrogance with extreme humility either. Hence, there is a saying that translates to, “Excessive humility is the result of arrogance.” This is a universal saying. It is a simple sign, but a formula that works extremely well in figuring out a complex person in the instant.

They speak mellifluously, form grand statements and decorate them with the most delightful of words. They are exceptionally mature people. They are perfect in the way they carry themselves, their actions, their address and relations; everything is finely calculated and identified.

You shrink and are crushed in the presence of their “maturity.” They walk full of dignity. They even shame the soil in terms of humility and sagacity. They are mild-mannered; they speak gently and dress to kill.

Yet, in reality, they are monuments of arrogance. They are elitist and discriminatory. They look like Muslims, but they do not like religious people who are not like them; they do not like the poor, those who dress in shabby clothes; those who have lost their lives and shed their blood for the sake of a cause are insignificant to them.

Even if not openly, they secretly belittle them.

They do not like upfront people; they avoid people who speak their minds and keep at a distance those who strive in life with all their might. They do not speak to them; they have no relations with them, and do not even live in the same suburbs as them. They belittle, undermine and insult them.

It is these sorts of people that poison, offend, shame and wound us all. The widespread nature of the reaction toward Veysel İpekçi, especially its intensity among conservative circles, stems from a common wound.