Turkey's parliament speaker rejects Israeli MP's invitation

Turkey's Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek declined an invitation from his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin due to the strain in bilateral relations between the two countries. Rivlin sent a letter to Cicek on Nov. 29, 2011, inviting him to Israel. Rivlin stressed the importance of the visit for the sake of bilateral relations, Daily News learned. Cicek replied to the letter 1.5 months later and said, "The invitation will be considered when the bilateral relations become more favorable. "I am sure you know our expectations to enable our relations [to be] normalized," Cicek said in his letter.