Austrian lawmakers on Wednesday condemned the death of Ottoman Armenians during their compulsory deportation from Anatolia in World War I as "genocide" for the first time.

The statement holds no legal power, but neverthless represents a symbolic step.

"April 24 1915 marks the beginning of the persecutions, which ended in genocide," said parliament president Doris Bures, before inviting MPs to observe a minute's silence for the people who died.

The leaders of the country's six major parties also issued a statement declaring that Austria, as a former ally of the Ottoman Empire, had a "duty to recognise and condemn these horrific events as genocide".

"It is Turkey's duty to face the dark and painful chapter of its past and recognise the crimes committed against Armenians under the Ottoman empire as genocide," the statement said.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their ancestors were killed in a targeted military campaign to eradicate the Armenian people from Anatolia, in what is now eastern Turkey, whereas Turkey acknowledges the killings but firmly denies that the killings amount to genocide, with the claim there was a lack of intention to deliberately destroy the Armenian community.

Austrian President Heinz Fischer has declined an invitation to attend the 100th year commemoration of the 1915 incidents in Armenia on April 24, but instead is sending an ambassador.