In call, Rivlin thanks Erdogan for firefighting aid

President Reuven Rivlin calls his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to thank him for Ankara’s assistance in battling the blazes that have been raging throughout Israel.

Erdogan responds, “As soon as I found out that the fire was spreading I requested we send our helicopters and teams to help, and I hope and pray that the mission will end with the best outcome possible.”

According to a transcript of the conversation, the Turkish leader adds that the recently rebooted relations between the two countries are rapidly warming, and notes that a new Turkish ambassador will soon be installed in Tel Aviv.

“The normalization of the relations between Turkey and Israel is of utmost importance for the whole region,” he says. “I know that we can keep working together in the domain of natural gas and that the conversations between our energy ministries will bear fruit.”

Erdogan also objects to a bill moving through Israel’s Knesset that would muffle the call to prayer in the country’s mosques, and Rivlin says the matter will be “considered with sensitivity, as any matter of freedom of speech and religion should be.”