Expert: West facing obstacle at current stage in Syria

West has faced an obstacle at the current stage in Syria, for it has failed to enlist the support of Syrians who still prefer President Assad to it, says Andrey Areshev, political expert, fellow at the Institute for Political and Social Studies of the Black Sea and Caspian Region, in an interview with ArmInfo.

The expert forecasts that Assad will remain in power despite the growing pressure by the West and the aggression of the opposition, since he enjoys public support.

"The Syrian people is tired of the terror of oppositional groupings," the expert says. He is sure that Bashar Assad will remain in power in case of external support to the Syrian leadership.  As for the genesis of the Syrian conflict, Areshev outlines two basic factors that provoked domestic political crisis in Syria: energy and geopolitical factors.

"The stance of Turkey and Arab states - Qatar, Saudi Arabia - that are interested in destabilization of the situation in Syria stems from their energy interests. Turkey needs energy products, while Qatar and Saudi Arabia claim energy hegemony in the Middle East," the expert says. He believes that the West encourages the ambitions of those states in the energy sector.

As for the West, which is also interested in destabilization of the situation in Syria, it has quite ambitious geopolitical plans i.e. to reach the Russian and Chinese borders through extending control over Middle East, Areshev said.