Fault planes and slickenslides have been systematically studied in the Troodos and Kellaki ophiolitic sequences and in their overlying Uppermost Cretaceous to Neogene sedimentary cover exposed in southern Cyprus. A relative chronology of three main deformational events has been recognized. The most recent event, occurring during the late Neogene, is characterized by a N‐S striking extension. From late Cretaceous to late Miocene, the deformation became compressional with a N160° strike. An older tectonic event, contemporaneous with the development of the Cretaceous ophiolitic suite, is characterized by a ESE‐WNW extension or extensional strike