A construction firm belonging to Mahmut Sami Mallı, a former member of parliament for the ruling party, won a 43-million lira ($7-million) tender to construct water pipelines in northern Syria, Birgün daily said on Tuesday.

The company stuck a deal with Turkey's General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSİ) on June 28 to construct water pipelines in areas of northern Syria captured during the 2016 Operation Euphrates Shield, stretching from Azaz in the west to Jarabulus in the east, Birgün said.

The firm also won several tenders worth 120 million lira ($20 million) from Ankara Metropolitan Municipality when Ibrahim Melih Gökçek, also a member of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), was mayor of the capital, according to the daily.

Opposition parties won local elections in five of six largest cities in Turkey last year and have since highlighted cases of lucrative tenders for publicly funded contracts being awarded to businessmen close to the ruling party.