Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party. Photo: Reuters/Murat Cetinmuhurdar

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a medal and certificate of appreciation on Tuesday to Col. (res.) Golan Vach, the leader of the Search and Rescue unit of the IDF’s Home Front Command that helped on the ground in Turkey in the aftermath of February’s deadly earthquake, Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced. 

Vach was among the domestic and foreign individuals and teams awarded by Erdogan for their contributions in the search and rescue efforts after the earthquakes on Feb. 6 hit southern Turkey and killed more than 50,000 people in the country. Erdogan also gave an award to Nadav Markman, deputy chief of the Mission of Israel to Turkey, during the award ceremony, which was held in Turkey on Yom HaZikaron.

Vach’s team was one of the first to arrive in Turkey to help following the earthquake and they rescued 19 people from the rubble, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry. Vach said about his team’s rescue efforts: “Our goal is to save lives. We believe that life could be saved still in this time slot, the conditions and the circumstances are difficult, the weather is cold, and the destruction is severe.”

Vach has more than 20 years of military experience. He and his IDF unit that specializes in search and rescue operations have helped catastrophes around the world, including when a condominium building collapsed in Surfside, Florida, in 2021. They worked with US rescue teams in Surfside to find 81 victims in the rubble, he said at the time.