Born in 1953 in Kayseri, Abidin Unal stepped into military life in 1972 by entering the Air Force Academy. In 1975, he graduated with the rank of Lieutenant. Following graduation, he completed the flight and combat readiness training at the 2nd Main Jet Base Flight Training Central Command and 3rd Main Jet Base command, respectively. In 1977, he was appointed as formation pilot and Teacher Pilot to the 131st Squadron Command of the 3rd Main Jet Base. Ünal who was assigned to the company command of Air Force Academy Cadet Depot in 1984, served as F-16 formation flight commander at the 142th Fleet Command in 1989. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General on 30 August 2000 and appointed to the Presidency of the General Staff Scientific Decision Support Center. During his term, he was a Senior Member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Science and Technology Committee. In 2004 he was promoted to Major General. In 2008, he was promoted to Lieutenant General. In 2011, he was appointed as 1st. Air Force Commander of Eskişehir.
In 2014, Abidin Unal, who was appointed as the Combatant Air Unit and Air Missile Defense Commander, was promoted to the rank of general in the same year. In 2015, he was appointed Turkish Air Force Commander with the decisions of the Supreme Military Council. During the period of his command, the Russian plane that had breached the border was destroyed by Turkish F-16s.
During July 15th
Abidin Ünal, Chief of the Air Staff was at the wedding of Combatant Air Unit Commander Lieutenant General Mehmet Şanver's daughter at the Istanbul Naval Club when the coup attempt began on the evening of July 15th.
At around 21:30, Ünal’s wife called him and said that Air Lieutenant General Fikret Erbilgin, who was in the General Staff building, was taken into custody. Subsequently, Abidin Ünal first called Major General Cevat Yazgılı, whom he left as his deputy in Ankara. When he heard the jet noises during the telephone call, he also called Akıncı 4th Base Commander/Ankara Brigadier General Hakan Evrim and asked if he had given the order to fly the aircraft fighters and he got the response "I had to give the order to fly. " Ünal gave orders that the aircraft would not take off, but Evrim, the member of the FETÖ, did not fulfill the order.
Knowing that General Akın Öztürk was at Akıncilar Air Base, Unal asked Öztürk, "There are aircraft fighters in the air in Ankara, are they making the coup in the face of your orders?". There was no return from Ozturk who gave the answer "I will question it".
"If the flight happens, the base commander goes to court-martial"
Abidin Ünal, who gathered the base commanders at the wedding ceremony, gave the order, "Let everybody give the order to their own air base command that there will not be any flight." Ünal who said "If the flight happens, the base commander goes to court-martial" learned that 6 F-16s were ready for take-off from Diyarbakır 8th Main Jet Base. He ordered their departure to be blocked. After a while, however, the planes took off, disobeying the order.
Abidin Ünal, gave the following order to be broadcasted in all troops just before leaving the wedding hall by calling the Air Force Operations Center in Eskişehir: “The Air Force Operations Center in Ankara is in the hands of illegal people, and the orders issued there will not be fulfilled in any way, and all orders will be published on my behalf from the Eskişehir Air Operations Center.’’
The putschists detained the four-star General in the room.
Armed and fully-camouflaged soldiers came to the meeting room of the hotel where the wedding took place at 23:30, while 17 generals were assessing the situation. General Abidin Ünal, who was taken from the hotel by the soldiers and taken to Akıncılar Air Base, was held in the 141th squadron.
Akın Öztürk, who came to the room on the morning of 16th of July, informed Unal that ''I told them that they should give this up but they were not persuaded.''. Öztürk came back to the room at 15:30, said he was with the 2nd President and Gen. Abidin Unal could go out.
Ünal, who went to the guesthouse where the generals brought from Istanbul had been held, saw that the generals had been captured in a tied manner. After unlocking the generals' handcuffs, they were all transferred to the headquarters of the Air Force. Meanwhile, Akın Öztürk was with them.
Gen. Abidin Ünal announced during his trial that Gen. Akin Ozturk, who carried out the coup attempt during this process, was not being interned by other soldiers and was expressing his suspicions about why he had not escaped with the coup soldiers.
