This study investigates the active tectonics of the Alpine-Himalayan Belt between western Turkey and Pakistan using over 80 new fault plane solutions, satellite imagery, and historical earthquake data. The deformation in this region is dominated by the lateral movement of continental material away from the Lake Van region in eastern Turkey, which helps avoid crustal thickening and allows shortening between Arabia and Eurasia to be accommodated by thrusting over oceanic-type basement in the southern Caspian, Mediterranean, Makran, and Black Sea regions. Central Turkey, bounded by the North and East Anatolian strike-slip faults, moves westward from the Lake Van region and overrides the eastern Mediterranean at two intermediate-depth seismic zones. Northern Iran moves eastward from the Lake Van region via a conjugate system of strike-slip faults, leading to low-angle thrusting over the southern Caspian Sea. The seismicity of the Caucasus shows predominantly shortening perpendicular to the regional strike, with some minor elongation along the strike. Large areas, such as central Turkey, NW Iran, central Iran, and the southern Caspian, appear to be almost aseismic, behaving as relatively rigid blocks surrounded by active belts 200-300 km wide. The motion of these blocks can be described using poles of rotation. The study predicts motions consistent with observed data and explains phenomena such as the opening of the Gulf of Iskenderun, changes in the Zagros mountains, and the relatively weak seismicity in SE Iran. The deformation within the active belts is described using a continuum approach, considering geometric constraints on fault systems. The study also discusses the implications of these processes for the evolution of older mountain belts.This study investigates the active tectonics of the Alpine-Himalayan Belt between western Turkey and Pakistan using over 80 new fault plane solutions, satellite imagery, and historical earthquake data. The deformation in this region is dominated by the lateral movement of continental material away from the Lake Van region in eastern Turkey, which helps avoid crustal thickening and allows shortening between Arabia and Eurasia to be accommodated by thrusting over oceanic-type basement in the southern Caspian, Mediterranean, Makran, and Black Sea regions. Central Turkey, bounded by the North and East Anatolian strike-slip faults, moves westward from the Lake Van region and overrides the eastern Mediterranean at two intermediate-depth seismic zones. Northern Iran moves eastward from the Lake Van region via a conjugate system of strike-slip faults, leading to low-angle thrusting over the southern Caspian Sea. The seismicity of the Caucasus shows predominantly shortening perpendicular to the regional strike, with some minor elongation along the strike. Large areas, such as central Turkey, NW Iran, central Iran, and the southern Caspian, appear to be almost aseismic, behaving as relatively rigid blocks surrounded by active belts 200-300 km wide. The motion of these blocks can be described using poles of rotation. The study predicts motions consistent with observed data and explains phenomena such as the opening of the Gulf of Iskenderun, changes in the Zagros mountains, and the relatively weak seismicity in SE Iran. The deformation within the active belts is described using a continuum approach, considering geometric constraints on fault systems. The study also discusses the implications of these processes for the evolution of older mountain belts.