World Bulletin / News Desk

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 Kurtulmus 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," Kurtulmus said.

Kurtulmus said approximately 4,800 such traffickers were caught during 2015 and half of them were arrested.