September 16, 1959
MAKARIOS VS DIGENIS: Nicosia – New evidence of a conspiracy against Cypriot Ethnarch and Archbishop Makarios, his Greek-Cypriot ministers and the implementation of the Zurich and London agreements are continuing to emerge. According to these revelations, the conspirators were planning to launch armed action in August, hoping that statements by former National Cypriot Fighters’ Organization leader Georgios Grivas, aka Digenis, attacking the agreements would lead to mass demonstrations against both the accords and the archbishop, and eventually to a general uprising. They were hoping to exploit these demonstrations and incite further unrest until August 14, when they wanted to stage a coup. That night, their armed groups were planning to arrest Makarios, the abbot of the Kykkou Monastery and other clerics, Cypriot Foreign Minister Tassos Papadopoulos and two other ministers. They would have then executed the archbishop, among others, and claimed to be recognized as representatives of the Cypriot people and to assume power. If that failed, they had hoped to bring about the breakdown of the London and Zurich accords and continue their armed struggle with the aim of union with Greece.
