Human traffickers risk terror charges in Turkey, Deputy PM Kurtulmuş says

Turkish deputy prime minister has warned that those behind human trafficking of asylum seekers risked facing terrorism charges in Turkey.

Addressing a gathering of foreign journalists in the Turkish capital Ankara Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said the Council of Ministers has been working on a law that will consider organizing (trafficking of) illegal migrants (into Europe from Turkey) as a terror crime.

"These actions are going to be considered under [Turkey's] penal code," Kurtulmuş said.

Kurtulmuş added that approximately 4,800 such traffickers were caught during 2015 and half of them were arrested.