Abstract: This paper concerns the neotectonics of the Bolkar Mountains, belonging to the Central Taurides in Southern CentralAnatolia. The study is based on observations on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) scenes of the European Remote Sensing(ERS) satellite and Digital Elevation Model (DEM images, complemented with field structural analysis. Il is revealed thatextensional tectonics prevails in the area during the Neogene. In the northern sector, movements trend west and are attributedto the westward escape of Anatolia towards the Aegean basin. Further south, movements turn progressively to the southwestthen south and are related to the opening of the Adana-Cilicia basin probably as early as the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene.More importantly, uplift of the Bolkar Mountains occured in the Neogene coeval with this extension. The belt is interpreted asthe northern uplifted shoulder of the Adana-Cilicia basin, due to thermal effects of Neogene lithospheric stretching and thinning. This is the consequence of the inception of a backward and downward retreat of the African subducting slab beneathCyprus in the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene, which has resulted in a wide extension in the overriding plate. Transition between high elevations in the Central Taurides and deep bathymetry in the Cilicia basin suggests that gravitational forces mayalso contribute to the extension during the Neogene-Quaternary.