Gulmira Sharshenkulovna Chobueva, a librarian in Boz-Barmak, shared interesting facts about its past with a Turmush correspondent. According to her, the name of this locality has several versions of its origin.
According to information provided on May 27, 2025, by the State Agency for Public Service and Local Self-Government, the locality of Boz-Barmak, part of the Jeyek Ayil Aimak, is now officially classified as aayil.
As Gulmira Chobueva recounts, the village of Boz-Barmak has a rich history. Between 1917 and 1918, when Soviet power was established in the country and the registration of localities began, the residents decided to name their village Boz-Barmak, as this land had historically been known by that name.
In the 1920s, during the period of collectivization, several collective farms operated in Boz-Barmak, which were eventually merged, leaving only one — the collective farm "Boz-Barmak." In 1952, the name was changed to "Collective Farm named after Beria," but soon it was reverted to its original version. This collective farm functioned until the 1960s, after which it merged with the collective farm "1-May."
The collective farm "1-May" combined the villages of Friedenfeld, Boz-Barmak, and Zhar-Bashy. At that time, it was common to merge small collective farms and localities to create larger structures.
In the USSR, it was decided to merge the villages of Friedenfeld and Boz-Barmak, giving the new entity the name International. However, many residents of the two villages opposed this. In 1988, a decision was made to restore the former names, and some documents even state that the status was restored.
Currently, it is officially named the village of International, while the name Boz-Barmak remains unofficial. Local residents insist on restoring the official status of the village of Boz-Barmak.
During the events of 1916 ("Urkun"), about 90% of the local population was shot.
During World War II, 80 young men from Boz-Barmak went to the front, and only half of them returned home.
Old-timers claim that in the past this area was called Boz-Barmak due to large rocky formations that resembled fingers. Later, the residents began to develop the territory and build yurts. During the Soviet era, local residents proposed to keep the name Boz-Barmak, believing that it better reflects the essence of the small settlement.
According to another account from an elder, during "Urkun", all residents were forced to flee. They headed towards the Kegety gorge, where a stone is erected in memory of the ancestors who perished during the events of 1916. It was here that soldiers of the Russian Empire shot people. When the residents began to return to Boz-Barmak in 1917, they found that the village was completely deserted.
No one returned from the former residents. Old-timers assert that in 1916, a large part of the population of Boz-Barmak was killed. One local woman shared her memories of those events in an interview.
According to Gulmira Chobueva, the father of this woman was a volost manager, and during "Urkun," they sought refuge in the mountains of the Talas Valley. In 1917, when the situation calmed down, they began to return through the Suusamyr Valley but got caught in a snowstorm and decided to stay for the winter in Boz-Barmak. "At that time, they noticed that no one was left in Boz-Barmak. Only 1-2 yurts were visible, next to which they set up their own," the woman recounted.
Old-timers claim that the village of Boz-Barmak emerged in the 1910s, which is considered the beginning of its history. Modern residents descend from the clans Aldayara and Toichubek, who were the first to migrate from Sary-Jygach and began to develop new lands. There are also representatives of the clans Asanbek and Duyshon, who arrived from the region of Otogon [Ötögen]. When the Russians came, the locals began to engage in agriculture in the lower areas. Initially, they settled near the canal, but due to the marshy terrain, they relocated to the territory of present-day Boz-Barmak.
In 1923, the organization of collective farms began, and clan groups started to create their own. In 1926, three collective farms merged into one, which was named "Boz-Barmak." This collective farm became one of the most advanced in the republic. The pasture Chunkur-Tor at that time belonged to this collective farm. It was led by Abandyn uulu Sharshen, and among the activists were Jamankul, Kozhomkul, and Chekir. A school, a club, a workshop, and an electric mill were built at the collective farm. Soon, Germans moved here, who worked as craftsmen and mechanics.
As of November 16, 1952, there were 165 people registered in the Boz-Barmak collective farm, with 179 collective farmers. The leader was Sulayman Karachev. In the same year, the collective farm was renamed after Lavrentiy Beria, and in 1953, it was returned to its former name. Old-timers suggest that the political situation in Moscow could have influenced this. On March 5, 1953, Joseph Stalin died, and on June 26, Lavrentiy Beria was arrested for treason. He was executed on December 23, 1953. Locals believe that this could have influenced the renaming of the collective farm.
Lavrentiy Beria, born on March 29, 1899, was a prominent leader of the Soviet security services and one of the creators of the GULAG, as well as the curator of the atomic project in the USSR.
He oversaw the deportations of various peoples, including Chechens and Germans.
Beria became part of the highest political league in 1938, heading the NKVD and replacing Nikolai Yezhov.
After Stalin's death in March 1953, he considered himself the best candidate for power and initiated a series of reforms known as "Beria's reforms."
The Minister of Internal Affairs established a mass amnesty for prisoners and attempted to carry out de-Stalinization, but in the power struggle, he lost to the Malenkov-Khrushchev tandem, who seized part of his ideas.
During World War II, 84 residents of Boz-Barmak went to the front, and only about 40 of them returned, among whom were the Panfilovtsy.
In 1960, the Boz-Barmak collective farm merged with the 1-May [Friedenfeld] collective farm. At the time of the merger, there were 76 households, 90 houses, 5,700 goats and sheep, 164 horses, and 170 pigs in the collective farm. After this merger, Boz-Barmak, Friedenfeld, and Zhar-Bashy became part of the large collective farm 1-May with its administrative center in Friedenfeld, which led to the closure of the school and library in Boz-Barmak. Workshops were relocated to Friedenfeld, and, as locals say, during this time, the infrastructure was destroyed.
In 1964, 400 rubles were allocated for the construction of a water supply to the village, and pipes were laid.
Gulmira Chobueva noted that there is a House of Culture in Boz-Barmak, built in 1991. After the collective farms were disbanded, the building was converted into a school. In 2023, a new primary school building was constructed with funds from the republican budget. In 1984, the village expanded, and the population increased. When residents began to request land for individual housing, information emerged about the intention to merge Boz-Barmak with Friedenfeld to increase the population.
In 1984, the merger occurred, and the new village was named International.
Chobueva emphasized that the issue of the status of the village of Boz-Barmak remains unresolved. Documents from 1988 indicate that the name Boz-Barmak was restored. When Chobueva received her passport at the age of 16 in 1996, it listed the village of Boz-Barmak. However, when she replaced her passport in 2006, she was informed that such a locality no longer existed.
Having studied archival documents, Chobueva found out that in 1992 a master plan for the village was ordered, for which 400 soms were allocated. The master plan exists, but since 2000, for unknown reasons, the locality has not had the status of a village. The lack of this status hinders the construction of a large school and a health post.
According to Chobueva, this remains a serious problem for local residents.
As reported on May 27, 2025, by the State Agency for Public Service and Local Self-Government, based on the decisions of the residents, the ayil kenesh, and the district state administration, a draft law was developed, which was approved by the Jogorku Kenesh and signed by the president on February 12, 2025, under number 38.
This law classified the locality of Boz-Barmak in the Jeyek Ayil Aimak of the Issyk-Ata district of the Chuy region as aayil.
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