DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) -- Two weeks after seizing power in a sweeping offensive, Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday said weapons in the country, including those held by Kurdish-led forces, would come under state control.

Sharaa spoke alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, after earlier meeting with Lebanese Druze leaders and vowing to end “negative interference” in the neighboring country.

Ankara-backed rebels played a key role in supporting Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which headed a rebel alliance that seized Damascus on 8 December, toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

During a press conference with Fidan, Sharaa said Syria’s armed “factions will begin to announce their dissolution and enter” the army.

“We will absolutely not allow there to be weapons in the country outside state control, whether from the revolutionary factions or the factions present in the SDF area,” he added, referring to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Sharaa traded in the olive-green military shirt he sported just days ago for a suit and tie during his meetings on Sunday at the presidential palace.

He also said “we are working on protecting sects and minorities from any attacks that occur between them” and from “external” actors exploiting the situation “to cause sectarian discord.”

“Syria is a country for all and we can coexist together,” he added.

That sentiment was on display at the colorfully-lit Christmas market in Damascus, where Batoul al-Law a dietician, said there were more Muslims than Christians.

“We have always celebrated both Christian and Muslim holidays together,” she said, but “you feel that people are now happier and more comfortable.”

Turkey’s Fidan said sanctions on Syria must “be lifted as soon as possible.” He called for the international community to “mobilize to help Syria get back on its feet and for the displaced people to return.”

Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war killed more than half a million people and displaced more than half its population, with many of them fleeing to neighboring countries, including three million in Turkey.