The Neo-Tethyan suture zone in the western margin of the Çankırı basin (NW central Anatolia, Turkey) has been reactivated as a pinched crustal wedge due to a NW – SE compression created by the right lateral North Anatolian Fault Zone and the Kırıkkale – Erbaa Fault Zone. This neotectonic structure, the Eldivan-Elmadağ pinched crustal wedge-(EPCW), having a thrusted eastern and normal faulted western margin, has accommodated a 2.8 km shortening since the Late Pliocene. This result accords with the model in which the Anatolian plate is squeezed from the east rather than pulled from the southwest. The EPCW, a recently active structure, should be regarded as a potential source in the earthquake risk assessment of central Anatolia, particularly for the capital city Ankara and for Çankırı.