A French hotel cancelled a reservation by a Turkish delegation for a conference room to host a discussion of the bill on criminalization of the Armenian Genocide denial.

The delegation was made up of representatives of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) and the Turkish Industry & Business Association (TUSIAD), who traveled to France to lobby against the bill.

The room reserved for the delegation in the Intercontinental Le Grand Hotel was cancelled last minute by hotel management due to unavailability, but reports hinted at mounting political pressure as the underlying cause, Hurriyet Daily News says.

The draft law envisaging a one-year prison sentence and 45,000 euro fine for denying the Armenian Genocide is due to go before the French parliament on December 22.