Relations between Makarios’ government and Greece worsen after a group of colonels seize power in a military coup in Athens in April. Greece resumes consultations with Turkey to bring back the Acheson Plan, but Makarios voices strong opposition. The Cyprus House of Representatives unanimously approves a resolution for “unadulterated” union with Greece.

The ‘Kofinou Crisis’ in mid-November brings Greece and Turkey to the brink of war. It erupts when a large National Guard force attacks Turkish Cypriot positions in and around the mixed village of Ayios Theodoros – where Turkish Cypriot fighters had prevented Greek Cypriot police patrols – and the nearby Turkish Cypriot village of Kofinou. These villages are considered strategically important because they are located at the junction of the main roads from Nicosia and Larnaca to Limassol.

The Greek Cypriots fear the Turkish Cypriots are trying to create a new enclave in the area. Twenty-seven Turkish Cypriots die in the fighting. Turkey threatens military intervention and its fighter jets fly over Nicosia. Greece is persuaded to withdraw several thousand troops from Cyprus along with Grivas, the National Guard commander.