Turkish parliament speaker Cemil Çiçek has turned down an invitation by his Israeli counterpart, Reuven Rivlin, in a formal letter on Jan 24, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Çiçek thanked the Israeli speaker for his "kind" invitation, but said such a visit could only occur after relations between the two countries have improved.

"I am not accepting the invitation for the time being," Çiçek said. "I am sure you know the conditions set by Turkey for the normalization of relations between the two countries."