(CNN) -- Turkey and Syria are locked in a fierce struggle that has escalated greatly following Friday's downing of a Turkish Phantom F-4 jet by the Syrian authorities. The two heavily armed neighbors are inching gradually into a military confrontation, one that is unlikely to be isolated and that has the potential to turn into a region-wide conflict. Consequently it could take just one spark -- an incident such as this -- to ignite a fire between Ankara and Damascus, the flames of which could enflame the entire region. At this particular juncture Turkey is refraining from taking any military measures against Syria. In Tuesday's speech to the Turkish parliament, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that his country was adopting a "common-sense" attitude that "should not be perceived as a weakness". Turkey's new approcah relies on active diplomacy, potent economic sanctions and pschological warfare, and the mobilization of both NATO and the western powers, in an effort to isolate the Assad regime further.
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Tensions between Turkey and Syria rise over shooting down of Turkish military jet
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Fawaz Gerges says just one spark could ignite a fire between Ankara and Damascus
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Turkey establishing "safe zone" that hinders Syria's ability to move troops, Gerges says
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Gerges: Syrian is sending message: we have capability and will to oppose intervention
On the other hand, @placeholder acknowledges shooting down the jet, but says the downing of the "unidentitifed object" was not an attack.