A certificate of appreciation from the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey was presented on Tuesday to the commander of the IDF’s National Rescue Unit, Col (Ret) Golan Vach, who commanded Israel’s rescue mission that helped locate survivors and provide aid during the recent earthquake in southern Turkey.
The Israeli rescue mission was one of the first to arrive to provide aid after the earthquake and succeeded in rescuing 19 survivors from the ruins. The certificate was presented on Israel’s National Memorial Day (Yom HaZikaron in Hebrew) for the Fallen Soldiers of the Wars of Israel and Victims of Actions of Terrorism, which is observed every year the day before Israeli Independence Day.