 Reportedly over one million people gathered in İzmir for the rally to demand their country remain a secular state, stepping up pressure on the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) government before July elections.The municipal harbor officials confirmed that just the number of citizens traveling by public ferry to the event site numbered over 350,000.Leaders of the three leftist parties, namely Deniz Baykal of the CHP, Zeki Sezer of DSP, and Murat Karayalçın of SHP were also among the demonstrators.