We present and interpret Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements of crustal motions for the period 1988--1997 at 189 sites extending east-west from the Caucasus mountains to the Adriatic Sea and north-south from the southern edge of the Eurasian plate to the northern edge of the African plate. Sites on the northern Arabian platform move 18¿2 mm/yr at N25 ¿¿5 ¿W relative to Eurasia, less than the NUVEL-1A circuit closure rate (25¿1 mm/yr at N21 ¿¿7 ¿W). Preliminary motion estimates (1994--1997) for stations located in Egypt on the northeastern part of Africa show northward motion at 5--6¿2 mm/yr, also slower than NUVEL-1A estimates (10¿1 mm/yr at N2 ¿¿4 ¿E). Eastern Turkey is characterized by distributed deformation, while central Turkey is characterized by coherent plate motion (internal deformation of <2 mm/yr) involving westward displacement and counterclockwise rotation of the Anatolian plate. The Anatolian plate is de-coupled from Eurasia along the right-lateral, strike-slip North Anatolian fault (NAF). We derive a best fitting Euler vector for Anatolia-Eurasia motion of 30.7¿¿0.8 ¿N, 32.6¿¿0.4 ¿E, 1.2¿¿0.1¿/Myr. The Euler vector gives an upper bound for NAF slip rate of 24¿1 mm/yr. We determine a preliminary GPS Arabia-Anatolia Euler vector of 32.9¿¿1.2 ¿N, 40.3¿¿1.1 ¿E, 0.8¿¿0.2 ¿/Myr and an upper bound on left-lateral slip on the East Anatolian fault (EAF) of 9¿1 mm/yr. The central and southern Aegean is characterized by coherent motion (internal deformation of <2 mm/yr) toward the SW at 30¿1 mm/yr relative to Eurasia. Stations in the SE Aegean deviate significantly from the overall motion of the southern Aegean, showing increasing velocities toward the trench and reaching 10¿1 mm/yr relative to the southern Aegean as a whole. ¿ 2000 American Geophysical Union