Speaking at a press conference after the party's central executive board meeting, CHP spokeswoman and Deputy Chair Selin Sayek Boke called ISIL a “monster”, which continues to be a threat in the region and Turkey.

She expressed her party’s support for the government and the military’s Operation Euphrates Shield in Syria, which was launched early Wednesday, when artillery and airstrikes were followed by Turkish tanks crossing the border to target ISIL and the PYD in support of the Free Syrian Army fighters.

Turkey considers the PYD to be the Syrian affiliate of the extremist PKK organization.

“ISIL continues to be the most important threat to Turkey. ISIL is a monster,” she said.

She praised Turkish soldiers inside Syria and wished them a safe return to Turkey.

Boke urged the government to fight against ISIL inside and outside Turkey. “Unfortunately, it’s been late in fighting against ISIL in inside and outside,” she added.

Since January, rocket attacks on the Turkish province of Kilis from ISIL-held territory in Syria have killed at least 21 people, while extremist attacks in Gaziantep blamed on ISIL include Saturday’s suicide bombing of a wedding that killed 54 and a car bomb attack in May that martyred two police officers.

Meanwhile, the PYD -- which controls a swathe of northern Syria along the Turkish border -- has been accused of carrying out ethnic cleansing in areas under its control, arbitrarily detaining political opponents and forcing civilians to fight. The group is the Syrian branch of the PKK extrem group that has waged war on Turkey since 1984.