Kofidis was elected as a member of the Ottoman parliament for the Trebizond Vilayet in three successive election periods: 1908–1912, 1912–1914, and 1914–1918. Initially, he participated in the Young Turk movement. Kofidis, along with a number of Christian Orthodox citizens of the Ottoman Empire, hoped that this movement would favor the various local ethnoreligious groups. However, they soon realized that the ultimate goal of the Young Turks was the imposition of various policies of ethnic cleansing and genocide, which they launched during the following years.