US lawmakers and Armenian-American groups teamed up March 18 to unveil legislation recognizing the death of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire as a genocide.

The resolution marks 100 years since the arrest and subsequent massacre of 200 Armenian community leaders in Istanbul on April 24, 1915. It is vehemently opposed by Ankara, and the Obama administration has privately warned that its passage would further strain US-Turkish relations.

"I can't imagine a more important time, given what's going on around the world and given that is the 100th anniversary of the genocide," co-sponsor Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said at a news conference announcing the effort.

The Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice Resolution has attracted at least 43 co-sponsors to date and is modeled after similar efforts that have failed in recent years. It calls on Obama to press Turkey for "full acknowledgment of the facts and ongoing consequences of the Armenian Genocide" as well as a "fair, just, and comprehensive international resolution of this crime against humanity."